CPSC bans sale of Buckyballs magnetic toys, cites hazard

[ButterflyBlood]

Source: Reuters

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) ordered a halt to sale of Buckyballs magnetic toys on Wednesday, calling them a serious hazard in the panel's first stop-sale order in 11 years.

The commission ordered distributor Maxfield and Oberton Holdings of New York to halt sales because injuries to children who had swallowed them had continued to rise, the CPSC said in a complaint.

"Notwithstanding the labeling, warnings and efforts taken by (Maxfield and Oberton), ingestion incidents continued to rise because warnings are ineffective," the CPSC said. It said the magnets presented a "substantial product hazard."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-idUSBRE86O1LN20120725

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Damn, I know of some smaller stores here that are probably still selling them. Should pick some up before it's too late.

[prole_for_peace]

1. As soon as I heard this I ordered two sets from ebay.

I have always wanted some but it is now or never.

[xtraxritical]

2. Anybody got a picture? I don't know what they are.

[MicaelS]

4. Buckyballs website...

http://www.getbuckyballs.com/

[caraher]

5. See their web site

http://www.getbuckyballs.com/

[xtraxritical]

15. I want to thank both of you for the link. Are they magnetic, or what?

[xtraxritical]

16. Yes, I see from posts below that they are magnetic. Never mind.

[caraher]

3. What about other distributors?

I bought a bunch of those through a company that doesn't use that brand name. Does this apply to the product or just the brand? I use the cubes all the time to demonstrate the Meissner effect...

[Comrade_McKenzie]

6. I don't agree with this action. They have NEVER been marketed to children. nt

[alp227]

12. exactly, it's just like banning alcohol because of teen DUIs.

[Travis_0004]

7. I actually bought some last week.

They haven't shipped yet, lets hope they do.

I think this is a stupid ruling. I realize they are very very dangerous if a kid swallowed 2 or more, but they are labeled for adults. Perhaps the solution is to give a 1 page leaflet describing the dangers when somebody gets them. I realize some people may not understand how dangerous they can be.

(For those who don't know, they are a ton (200+) strong magnets. if 1 is swallowed, its not really too dangerous. If two are swallowed, they can attract each other when they are in your intestine, which can require an emergency surgery. )

[sofa king]

8. Sheesh. I thought I'd stepped out of the Tardis, there.

Then I figured out that the toy isn't made out of buckyballs, it just resembles one.

[RoccoR5955]

9. Gotta get more...

They might be worth something, besides magnets in the future.

[AtheistCrusader]

10. If you hear any republicans whine about nanny-state regulation just remind them

Saint Ronny banned Lawn Darts.

[MissMarple]

11. Oh good heavens, not the buckyballs!

I just read "Sandstorm". But I have always admired Buckminster Fuller, well, about some of the other stuff. So...urhmmm.

[eggplant]

13. There won't be any reason that "science-y" stores can't keep selling sets of rare earth magnets.

They probably just can't sell them as toys, and they'll have to restrict sales to adults. Or are they planning on banning *all* small magnets?

[missingthebigdog]

14. Guess it's too bad we don't have a constitutional right

To keep and bear buckyballs.

[tclambert]

17. Some people feed magnets to their cows to treat what they call "hardware disease."

Cows sometimes ingest bits of stray iron, pieces of fencing, staples, nails, etc. The magnets grab the stray iron and somehow keep it from hurting the cow. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cow_magnet

How do these buckyball magnets hurt people? You wouldn't want to get an MRI with one of these in your stomach, I'm sure. They, aren't sharp-edges, though. Wouldn't they normally just pass right through?

[GrantDem]

18. I believe the danger comes from swallowing more than one.

When the two connect with intestinal, or other tissue between them it becomes an issue.

[tclambert]

20. Ah, that's so obvious. Why didn't I think of that?

I'm going to claim to have retroactively figured that out.

[Hugabear]

21. The symptoms also tend to mimic the flu

As in body aches, fever, soreness, etc.

Thus, many parents might know until it was too late. I saw something about this on a TV show recently, these magnets can really fuck up a person's insides.

[Ian David]

19. The CEO of the company goes out of his way to blame Obama. Fuck him and his company. n/t

"We will vigorously fight this action taken by President Obama's handpicked agency," he said in an emailed statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/25/us-usa-buckyballs-idUSBRE86O1LN20120725

[Igel]

22. It you thinki it's a good thing, not a prob.

If you think it's a bad thing, he's the ultimate authority in the executive branch and the one who handpicked the head of the agency a Senate confirmation. (No blame there; just fact.)

If the CEO is personally responsible for everything that employees do, then the clear parallel is that Obama's responsible. This isn't a foolish consistency; it's a politically foolish consistency, not the same thing at all.

Personally, I was just looking at this kind of thing last week (although I think was thinking I'd go more for the cube version, sort of a mess of little cubic magnets all glommed together). School's starting up soon. I liket them.

However, I also tend to think that to blame the top guy for everything everybody under him does is just plain insanity. When I was office manager and had 3 employees, I couldn't monitor each and every act of each employee and some did things I disapproved of, but which I only found out about weeks later. I took responsibility, but had there been a few layers between me and the evil-doer I'd have mumbled something about the buck stopping with me and my responsibility would lie in reprimanding the immediate supervisor.

[Ian David]

23. There's a difference between accepting responsibility and deflecting blame.

Especially when there is a partisan, political agenda.